The present invention relates to a restoration architecture for the "optical technology layer" of a communication network and, more particularly, to an implementation of a pre-defined subnetwork architecture (thus, a "quasi-centralized" approach) and a methodology for providing data path reconfiguration upon failure of a node or link.
There exists at this time several different restoration methods that may be useful with the "optical technology layer" of a communication network. In general, these approaches may be characterized by their various levels of restoration granularity (e.g., line vs. wavelength (channel/path) switching), different topological routing methods (i.e., ring vs. mesh), different classes of replacement paths (point-to-point or local) and different c ontrol schemes (distributed, centralized).